I have to disagree there, as I don't enjoy playing with Legends in Dynasty Mode, just real NBA players and the generated rookies. I've only been using the PC version to patch this year (and play a few exhibition games now and then). Once I complete the 95/96 patch, I might start a Dynasty on the PC though.

But you are right about NBA Live 2005 - whenever I start hearing about the new game, my interest in the current title dwindles a little. Also, I've played through one season and am way ahead of the real NBA. I might try adjusting the sliders so that the game is a little harder. I've been playing it a long time and have developed strategies that allow me to win with realistic scores, so perhaps it's time to make me work a little harder.

Also, starting again with a different team might keep things fresh. It just depends how busy I am.

This one was a little more challenging, with a late run resulting in a close victory with a nice scoreline. Still a little boring though, with the CPU not quite aggressive enough. Upping the CPU intercept slider resulted in a few more turnovers as the CPU managed to pick off some poor passes.

Donyell Marshall got his first start of the season, and responded with a nice effort at the offensive end but grabbed only one rebound in 30 minutes of playing time. Scottie Pippen played sparingly, picking up two quick fouls after entering the game in the second quarter. He played only 14 minutes. Jose Horne had his best game of the season, scoring 6 points and blocking two shots in 7 minutes. Crawford and Hinrich each had solid performances, while KG had his first truly fine game of the season.

The Bucks led most of the way, a couple of times by double digits. A 10-2 run late in the fourth gave me the lead, which I extended in the final minute when they put me on the line.

The second game in the back-to-back matchup resulted in a win for the Bucks. The game was close throughout, with several lead changes. KG struggled at the offensive end, scoring 17 points but shooting a dismal 6/17 from the field. I probably should have won this game, but I played really poorly in the final minute. With the score tied at 80, I let them score an easy four points which put the game out of reach with about 20 seconds left.

I've been considering bringing back Jay Williams as the backup point guard. I had him miss the entire 2003/2004 season, and even though he's probably not going to return in real life, he's on my roster and rated 61 overall. Suggestions?

He wouldn't get much playing time behind Crawford though, and I've got too much talent in the frontcourt for him to get a little time at small forward. I might as well keep Eddie Robinson for that role. But a nice suggestion nevertheless.

id bring Jay back , ok so he most prob wont be back in the "real" nba any time soon but its a place on your roster and with a 61 rating he should get some minutes even if he's third string.
How's that lineup change going?

I haven't played my Dynasty for a while now, so I haven't had a chance to try out the new lineup. I've mainly been working on the 95/96 patch, but I might get back to playing a few Dynasty games once it's done.

I've finally played another game, and it looks like this season might prove to be a little more challenging. I hope.

Atlanta 94, Chicago 90

Before the game I altered the CPU's sliders so that they had the same shooting sliders as the User setting, in the hopes that it would keep the game challenging. Whether it was rust after not playing for a while I'm still not sure, but I'm prepared to keep making slider changes if the games gets too easy again. Nevertheless, Atlanta did prevail in this one.

It was a pretty competitive game with a few lead changes, though I made a series of mistakes in the third quarter that let the Hawks get out to a 10 point lead early in the fourth. I battled back and only trailed by six with about 1:30 left. Jamal Crawford made three free throws to cut the deficit to 2 with 45 seconds left, but Stephen Jackson hit a jumper that gave the Hawks 94-90 advantage with 10 seconds left.

I attempted to draw a foul on a three pointer after advancing the ball to half court with my last timeout, but it missed badly and the Hawks took the victory on their home floor.

Basically, I wanted to shake things up a bit. Baxter and Robinson weren't getting consistent minutes. Marshall is playing much better than Pip, so I'm moving him back into the starting lineup. Rookie Jose Horne will backup KG at power forward. I considered trading Curry, Chandler or Marshall, but ultimately decided to try and make the above lineup work. Curry and Chandler may be in and out of the starting lineup depending on who seems to work best.

Boston 80, Chicago 79

The end result was definitely caused by rust, as I played very sloppy on offense and failed to capitalise on the opportunity to take the lead late in the fourth. There was a lot of one-on-one play, resulting in 13 total assists (as a team, I usually average twice that much). I had an opportunity to win the game, but Crawford missed a three. KG grabbed the rebound and put it back, but that didn't mean much as the Celtics did not foul and were easily able to hold onto a 1 point with only 0.1 seconds to run off the clock.

On the bright side, Jay Williams had a fairly good game after I had him miss the entire 2003/2004 season. He finished the game with 12 points on 4/7 shooting in 17 minutes.

Love the dynasty, but how do you get such low scores??
I play 12 min superstar with your sliders.
I even lowered several slider settings and I lowered gamespeed but nothing seems to work.
I keep getting these stupid high scores.

I have the dunk sliders set to 4, so mostly the CPU and I attempt layups. I take a lot of jumpshots, and switch often on defense. I also don't fast break too much. It's also easier in the second year of the Dynasty, as lower primacy ratings seem to result in the CPU using more of the clock...sometimes.

Washington 118, Chicago 99

The first quarter was absolutely abysmal. The Wizards kept beating me up the floor for easy dunks and layups, and had a 12-2 lead within the first three minutes. I wasn't too concerned, but once the lead became 24-6, I began to get a little worried. Jerry Stackhouse scored 16 points in the first quarter, while Gilbert Arenas dished out 10 assists. Washington shot a blistering 19/24 from the field, outscoring me 40-19. It was a truly awful quarter, one I was completely unprepared for.

Mike Fratello summed up the first half pretty accurately; embarrassing for the Bulls. The second quarter was another terrible defensive effort on my part. Stackhouse scored 10 points in the second for a total of 26 at halftime. KG started to heat up and had 18 at halftime, but only had 2 rebounds. KG and Chandler combined for 7 blocks in the first half, but the Wizards were simply on fire. I tried pushing the ball with Jay Williams but that didn't seem to work either.

The third quarter looked like being a similar affair, but a couple of runs spurred by playing a full court press as well as a couple of threes from Jon Barry late in the quarter reduced the deficit to single figures by the end of the period. KG remained hot throughout the third, scoring 16 points. Stack slowed up, scoring only 6 points in the third.

I thought that taking the lead in the fourth would be easy. I was wrong. I squandered a couple of opportunities and let the Wizards continue to score points in transition. The lead was soon back to double digits, and with 2:19 left in the game I finally admitted defeat. It was an ugly loss that probably should have been much worse if not for some inspired play in the third quarter. My defense was just terrible, and KG was the only player who really shined on offense. Just an awful game.

After taking control of the game in the first quarter, I extended the lead to double digits with a strong performance in the second quarter. The scoring was fairly evenly distributed with Crawford leading the way with 12 at the half. I figured that a 60-44 halftime lead would allow for a fairly easy second half. Guess what? I was wrong.

The Heat outscored me 33-17 in the third period, coming all the way back to take a 77-74 lead. Jay Williams hit a three pointer in the final minute to tie the game at 77, a deadlock that would last until the end of the period. We traded baskets at the beginning of the fourth, but a couple of fast breaks gave me a slight advantage that I was able to hold until the end of the game.

At the end of the game when Marv and Mike were offering a brief reflection, I was surprised to hear Marv comment that I was fortunate to get the win, with Mike adding that the game wouldn't have been so close if not for an impressive third quarter run by the Heat. I hadn't heard that analysis before, I was suitably impressed. The commentary is certainly pretty intelligent these days.

(Before the Golden State game, I moved Eddy Curry into the starting lineup)

This was another game where I maintained a good lead for most of the game, only to lose control in the fourth quarter. I narrowed the gap to 92-91 with about five minutes left in the fourth, but the Warriors edged away thanks to a three by Mike Dunleavy Jr. I was forced to foul Van Exel with about 5 seconds left. He made one of two to make the game 105-103. KG missed a short jumper that would have sent the game into OT.

"Gotta give it on up to the glock glock
Pop pop, better drop when them buckshot blow
The bone in me never no ho, so no creepin up outta the ziplock So sin, sip gin, and lil' mo heart run up, nut up And flipped in."

Most of the time, a player from the winning team is named POG. But throughout the entire series, sometimes a player from the losing team is named POG if they are deemed to have had the best individual performance.